Jazz /
Jazz A Maison De Japon, Paris
*Limited Edition* Embark on a wonderful French journey with the Japanese duo of saxophonist Mototeru Takagi and pianist Takashi Kako, accompanied by the exceptional Kent Carter on bass and cello, along with Ron Pittner on drums and percussion. This performance showcases Takagi and Kako in a slightly different light, possibly influenced by the Paris ambiance. While their creativity remains modern and distinctive, there's a nuanced sentimentality in their playing, evoking a special undercurrent th…
Flash
*Limited Edition* This trio, led by drummer Motohiko Hino and featuring Masahiko Satoh on piano and Nobuyoshi Ino on bass, delivers truly unique work that transcends the typical piano trio conventions of its time. The trio breaks open the format with their creative exploration on the album. Satoh's piano work initially leans towards lyricism before expanding, while Ino's bass rolls and dips with its own beautiful sense of melody. Hino's drumming diverges far from a straight rhythm, often adding …
Valencia
*Limited Edition* Percussionist Masahiko Togashi collaborates with the exceptional piano accompaniment of Takashi Kako in a unique and captivating musical journey. Kako's piano work, marked by a distinctive sense of touch and tone, complements Togashi's drumming. Kako's ability to extract guitar-like sounds from the piano, characterized by an airy chromatic quality, adds a warm and poetic dimension to the moments of freer improvisation on the record. While the music remains rooted in free jazz, …
Totsugeki Kamikaze Tokkotai
*Limited Edition* Delve into the intensity of saxophonist Kazumi Odagiri's rare trio session on Aketa's Disk label. Odagiri's fiery solos, accompanied by bassist Koichi Yamazaki and drummer Kenichi Kaneyama, create a dynamic interplay. Tracks include a vibrant take on Freddie Hubbard's "Intrepid Fox," as well as interpretations of "Invitation," "Striped Slacks," and "When Sunny Gets Blue." This searing session epitomizes the label's rare and freewheeling spirit.
fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred)
Tip! A radiant manifesto of artistic freedom, fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred) brings together a composition in four movements written and performed by Jones on alto saxophone, long-time collaborator Gerald Cleaver on drums, and four Vancouver-based string musicians: violinists Jesse Zubot and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee and bassist James Meger; with original artwork by Stan Douglas and liner notes by poet Harmony Holiday. Commissioned by Western Front, an artist-run center for multi…
Live In Masuda
Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai (Committee for the Improvement of Life) began its activities in the early 1970s, led by Kazutoki Umezu and Yoshiyuki Harada. Many musicians came and went and engaged in multifaceted activities, but one of the pillars was the so-called Life Improvement Committee (Matsugumi), centered on Koichi Shofaze. This work, recorded live in Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, is the only work left by Matsugumi with the same members. The saxophone cuts like a knife into the solid trio's pe…
Mass Hysterism In Another Situation
Huge Tip! *Remastered and cut to double 45RPM 12” vinyl. Housed in a heavy tip-on gatefold jacket with Pantone spot colors, spot ink pigment foil on gloss film laminate finish and printed inner sleeves. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI.* “Without producing a single phrase, the two distorted guitars became simple “electric sound” generators, and like fish swimming freely in water, they each tear through time in their own fashion. And yet there is a remarkable sense of unity to how they fill t…
Standards (Brussels) 2006
2023 restock "Packaged in an elegant cartboard box (a decca style) which includes a 26 page booklet with three little essays (Positions for listening, Real space and dislocation, A possible anthropogony) by Italian poet and writer Erika Dagnino. Featuring Anthony Braxton on alto sax, Alessandro Giachero on piano, Antonio Borghini on double bass and Cristiano Calcagnile on drums. Recorded live November 23-26 2006 at P P Cafe in Brussels, Belgium. Although I didn't initially recognize the names of…
Trio
Jesper Nordberg Trio is a group based in Copenhagen (DK) and Malmö (SE), featuring the double bass player Jesper Nordberg, violinist Stefan Pöntinen and trumpetist Ruhi Erdogan. With Nordberg's compositions as a starting point, the trio's playing can be characterized by close interplay, radical shifts, and having elements ranging from experimental improvisation, Balkan music, Scandinavian folklore, jazz and expressionism. Jesper Nordberg's warm tone and rhythmic displacements meet Ruhi's trumpet…
Circular Temple
"On a good day it is strenuous to stay current with pianist Matthew Shipp's imposing and voluminous output. On an even better day it is a fool's hardy errand to say the least. Now with the planned re-issuing of some of his great early deconstructions of musical thought and theory, starting here with 1990's daringly incongruous yet hypnotically accessible, Circular Temple, keeping up just got a whole lot harder. With William Parker on bass and Whit Dickey on drums, this four-movement suite for pi…
Progressive Jazz From Italy 1977 - 1989
*2023 stock* "I started my musician career in 1970 as devoted jazz fan and hard practicing drummer. But I was also interested in electronics and experimental music, in improvising and composing. My goal was to blend in an unique form of musical expression all my interests, dream that 30 years later, I can happily say that I fully accomplished. Following the previously released Ictus collection in two discs (ICTUS 503) presenting the best of my early music recorded in solo and with my groups, her…
Snowplow
*2023 stock* "hi Andrea - here it's just cold - I'd love to have some real snow here like we used to have in my childhood, even up to the 1980's! My children have never been in snow up to their knees and their knees are not that tall!"
I wrote these words to Andrea as we discussed our upcoming performances and recording during his visit to NYC in February 2009. As they say,"Be careful what you wish for..." So it snowed. Not a blizzard, but it was snow and it came down relentlessly. We play…
The Complete Recording Vol. 1 - Velocities
*2023 stock* Andrea Centazzo, LaDonna Smith and Davey Williams met for the first time in December 1978. They recorded the first part of this album in 1979 and the second in 2010. An exquisite and celebrated example of improvised music.
The Complete Recording Vol. 3 - Rituals
*2023 stock* Violinist LaDonna Smith and Guitarist Davey Williams teams up with Andrea Centazzo in this third release of their complete recording collection. Recorded in NYC at the Stone during the Ictus Nights Festival celebrating 35 years of Ictus, this CD is a must for improvised music lovers.
The Complete Recording Vol. 2 - Halcyon Days
*2023 stock* Having been fortunate enough to witness these three masters of improvisation reconvene after nearly thirty years of separation at the 2010 Improvisor Festival, I can say with the utmost confidence that time has not diminished the creative fire that first led them to collaborate so many years ago. Driven by the same passion and intensity for sonic shapeshifting that sparked their first European and American tours together in the late 1970's- and some of the first transcontinental int…
Black Man's Blues
Violinist Billy Bang made his recording debut as a leader with the Survival Ensemble, the first working band he ever led, on New York Collage in 1979. Bang, saxophonists Bilal Abdur Rahman and Henry Warner, bassist William Parker, and percussionists Rashid Bakr and Khuwana John Fuller played incendiary free jazz more clearly indebted to the New York avant-garde of the preceding decade than any album Bang would record again. The music’s urgency and passion arose from the exhilaration of artistic …
The Soul In The Mist
*2023* "Every now and then a recording comes out which renews the realization of how richly creative improvised music can be. What is intriguing is the idea of the well of introspection that must trigger the musicians’ process. The answer to the question “What comes next?” keeps the listener glued to the music.
In the Ictus release, The Soul in the Mist, Andrea Centazzo, on drums, Mallet Kat and percussion, Nobu Stowe, on piano, and Perry Robinson, on clarinet, render the anticipation of “What c…
The Taoist Concert
*2023 stock* "Back in March 2020, when Covid was taking over the world, we quietly released "The Journey" by Perry Robinson and Andrea Centazzo. We dedicated it to the free spirit clarinetist who journeyed away to the stars on December 2, 2018. During the pandemic lockdown, Andrea rediscovered his duo concert with Perry at The Taoist Sanctuary, which took place on May 29, 2015, the night before "The Journey" session. Peter Kuhn, who also performed with Perry that night with his trio, recorded th…
Textures And Pulsations
*2023 stock* “Textures and Pulsations” is a multilayered sonic meeting between two gifted and imaginative pianist/composers, Aruán Ortiz and Bob Gluck. With two pianos and poignantly etched live electronics, this pair crafts a mélange of subtly shifting textures, lyrical melodies, and engaging grooves. This collection of carefully articulated, highly virtuosic improvisations is a study in contrast, offering moments of subtlety and power. Musical moods range from wild flights of pianistic fantasy…
The Battle
*2023 stock* "In ancient Rome, chariot racing was one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Young nobles used to fiercely race their chariots around the 7 hills of the city. People on their path had to scatter to get out of the way, as they stopped for no one. But the event always generated strong spectator enthusiasm. In today’s New York, as this “Centazzo Invasion Orchestra” concert was progressing that evening at the Stone, I suddenly had a vision of such a mighty show. Like those Roma…